Her Majesty’s plan
Finally, the queen managed to cross the immense castle and reach her chamber. Amberjill opened the door and immediately closed it behind her. Breathing hard, Amberjill leaned her aching self against the door and closed her eyes, trying to control her breathing. Still, doing her best to contain her emotions, unstoppable tears ran down the queen’s cheeks incessantly. It was as if they had a life of their own, Amberjill couldn’t intervene.
“My queen,” Aurora’s sweet and concerned voice distracted her from that tragic moment. Amberjill was unaware that Aurora had returned, and even with tears streaming down her face, the queen was able to smile with relief when she saw her. But Aurora was the one who couldn’t smile, instead, her face fell when she saw the state of her mistress. Without thinking, Aurora ran over and kneeled at her queen’s feet, hugging her legs.
Amberjill, with a lump in her throat, and unable to say anything, only patted her servant’s head, trying to tell her that she was fine, and all will be sorted out.
After a while, Aurora looked up at her lady and saw with relief that her queen’s tears were no longer flowing. With her legs numb from being in that position for so long, Aurora stood up and curtsied to the queen. Amberjill nodded, going to a set of chairs that were arranged by the window. That was the place where she was dedicated to doing her embroidery.
The queen took the embroidery she needed to finish, and without looking at her servant, she said, “Tell me everything, from when you crossed the forest until you came back.” Aurora sighed, trying to get rid of the heaviness in her chest. “My queen, your father, the king, is in good health. I heard he had an upset stomach, but it was from too much suckling pig and cakes. “The queen’s mouth turned up slightly at one of its corners, but she continued to embroider without saying anything.
Aurora narrated the journey there, and the meeting she had with her brother. She was so proud that Lucas was already a man. Then she told her about the king’s reaction when she gave him the letter. King Lucian was about to unleash hell on Earth. And finally, Aurora gave her the king’s message. The queen had to look up from her embroidery, putting all her attention on what Aurora had to say. “My lady, the king has agreed to stop any action against Mahala, but only for one month.”
The queen’s eyes widened in surprise, wondering why only a month, but her servant wasn’t done yet. “You have a month to settle any unfinished business in Mahala, and then return home. Otherwise, the king will not hold his hand after that. Those were his words, my queen.
Amberjill was distraught upon hearing her father’s decree. To give her just a month, King Lucian must have been deeply hurt on her behalf. That only indicated one thing, if Amberjill didn’t leave Mahala within a month, the kingdom of Ruana would forcefully claim her back. No one in her native kingdom condoned misogyny. High officials and the army will also be in favour along with the king. The king of Mahala would inadvertently cause a massacre, just with this simple acct. The war would destroy both kingdoms. Ruana has been very powerful for generations, but Mahala, despite being a young kingdom, compensated for it with their recent acquisition of power and has amassed impressive military and economic might. The two kingdoms are very much on a par. No, Amberjill couldn’t allow this. The queen stood up abruptly, dropping her embroidery.
She began pacing her room endlessly, thinking deeply about how to get out of this situation. Aurora, who was watching her mistress anxiously, snapped her fingers, trying to help with some solution, but the faithful servant was not skilled in politics, so she said nothing. The queen stopped suddenly, and raised her head from the ground, turning to see her servant.
Aurora could see, through the queen’s eyes, that the gears in her brain were working. Her mistress had come up with some solution. That made Aurora exhale the air contained in her lungs.
“Aurora, go get Sandra, we have a lot of work to do.” The servant curtsied not very dignified, due to her hurry, and hurried out of the room.
Meanwhile, Amberjill continued to puzzle over how to make her plan work. Here in Mahala, as in any kingdom in the world, politics are handled with the sole objective of furthering the interests of the kingdom. That is where Amberjill will start. She went to her desk and began looking through her royal papyrus sheets. The ability to write in the language of politics was extremely easy for her. She learned everything thanks to the fact that she spent most of her childhood next to her father, in almost all events. Yes, Amberjill had this.
As Amberjill was taking out everything she would need, the door was flung open, making the queen jump in shock. Sandra and Aurora hurried in, bowing their heads, and approached their queen. Amberjill had her hand on her heart, and when she saw that it was her servants, she relaxed. “Sandra, close the door, and lock it.” Sandra nodded and did that. Then she returned to his mistress.
Amberjil was seated at her desk, and the two servant girls sat on the floor at their queen’s feet, awaiting instructions. The queen, seeing that they were ready, began, “You must understand that we are in a very delicate situation. My noble father, with all the justification in the world, wants to attack Mahala. And King Alcott in all his rights acquired a second wife, endorsed by his government, and his people. There’s nothing we can do about it. What we can do to avoid a tragedy is to get the problem out of the way, and the problem is me.”
The two servant girls put their hands to their mouths, imagining the worst. Aurora started to shake her head, but Sandra was the first to speak. “No, my queen, don’t, King Alcott is not worth it. When your heart heals, you will find happiness again. Think about King Lucian. And what will become of your humble servants?” The tears of her two maids ran freely down her cheeks. Amberjill raised an eyebrow, with her puzzled face. Until, finally, she understood what they were thinking. The queen shook her head at the absurdity of their thoughts.
“It’s nothing that you guys are thinking. My plan is not to literally disappear. I’ll get out of the way. In that manner, there will be no more conflict. Do you understand now?” Sandra and Aurora, even with tears in their eyes, smiled sadly for having thought something so foolish. After regaining their composure and wiping their tears on their dresses, they patiently waited for their queen to reveal her plan.
